Review Summary

A movie called “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai” might reasonably lead you to expect an orgy of violence, especially since the director is Takashi Miike, a wildly prolific Japanese filmmaker best known for sanguinary delights like “Audition” and “13 Assassins.” But “Hara-Kiri” finds this busy genre omnivore in a quiet, even classical frame of mind. More moving than shocking, it proceeds slowly and gracefully, and the few scenes of bloodshed are emotionally intense rather than showily sensational. — A. O. Scott